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BOS: FIRE SUPPORT

TOPIC: Deployment of Field Artillery and Mortars.

DISCUSSION: Due to the dense jungle vegetation, naturally occurring firing positions for field artillery and mortars are relatively few. The commander must decide whether he wants to use only naturally occurring firing positions or if he wants to create his own. Normally, the slower the OPTEMPO, the easier it is to rely on naturally occurring firing positions. During an exploitation or pursuit, naturally occurring firing positions would most likely be insufficient. Due to the ease of infiltration through the jungle, all artillery and mortar positions must be organized for perimeter defense. Your indirect fire assets are a high value target to the enemy. Therefore, the gunners must be ready at any time to defend the battery area.

LESSON(S):

• Organize all firing positions for perimeter defense.
• Everyone must have a role in defending the perimeter.
• If it is critical to your success, then it is probably a high payoff target for the enemy.
• Use detection devices and command-detonated mines.

TOPIC: Employment of Field Artillery and Mortars.

DISCUSSION: "Shoot and Scoot" tactics are difficult to employ for artillery in the jungle. There are simply too few firing positions. Most often, artillery will fire from relatively few positions. This makes them vulnerable to counter battery fire. Mortars are vulnerable as well, but they can use the "Shoot and Hide" method. Once mortars receive end of mission, they should displace 50 - 75 meters away, leaving the baseplate and aiming stakes in place. However, a lack of firing positions makes the job of locating concentrations of enemy indirect fire assets relatively easy. Due to space limitations, mortar platoons will often fire as a section. For the same reason, mortar tubes may be much closer than the doctrinal distance. Single guns sited to fire at a single target are much more difficult to locate without the aid of some form of counterbattery radar. Unobserved fires are frequently used, particularly against an enemy vulnerable to harassment and interdiction (H& fires.

LESSON(S):

• Dig in whenever you can; your location is a prime counterbattery target for the enemy.
• Target all known open areas as potential counterbattery targets.
• Be prepared to deliver unobserved fires.

TOPIC: Adjusting Fire.

DISCUSSION: The most frequent manner of adjusting fire in the jungle by ground-based observers is by sound. It is a skill that requires a good deal of practice. Attempting to adjust fire from the smoke of an impacting round can be deceiving. Due to the density of the foliage, the smoke may drift as much as 100 to 200 meters before emerging from the jungle canopy. However, using a white phosphorous (WP) round in the first round of adjustment will give the observer a general direction to focus his attention. In almost all cases, an aerial observer is superior to a ground-based observer for quickly adjusting fire. The most obvious exception is when combat is within danger close range. Then fire will be adjusted in small increments (the creeping method).

LESSON(S):

• Use aerial observers whenever you can.
• Use WP as the initial round for adjustment.
• Use the creeping method to adjust fire by sound.

TOPIC: Coordination of Fires.

DISCUSSION: The fire support officer (FSO) must work closely with the S3 in tracking friendly locations. The S2 should keep both the S3 and FSO updated on known or suspected enemy locations. All location reports should be plotted as soon as they are available. However, the clearing of fires should be decentralized to the commanders responsible for the sector/AO into which the fires will be delivered. Those commanders have a better appreciation of the situation in their sectors. However, the FSO must track the battle and involve himself in the fire-clearing process. This is particularly critical when reconnaissance or counter-reconnaissance operations are taking place in the battalion's AO.

LESSON(S):

• The S3, S2, and FSO must maintain continuous communication on friendly and enemy locations.
• The commander on the ground should clear fires in his sector, but the FSO must stay involved in the process.
• Fires across unit boundaries must be cleared through the FSO.

TOPIC: Fire Control Measures.

DISCUSSION: The effects of jungle terrain on communications and visibility normally dictates the employment of restrictive fire control measures. Graphic, linear fire control measures must be located on or follow easily identifiable terrain to prevent confusion. No fire areas are an excellent means of avoiding fratricide or accidentally engaging civilian targets during defensive operations. During search-and-attack operations, it is critical that the commander designate sector boundaries as restricted fire lines (RFLs) to avoid fratricide. The FSO must continuously monitor operations and advise the commander on updating fire control measures.

LESSON(S):

• Locate graphic, linear fire control measures along easily identifiable terrain features.
• Designate unit boundaries as RFLs.
• Keep all fire control measures updated.

TOPIC: Effects of Indirect Fire.

DISCUSSION: The thick jungle canopy severely limits shell-fuse combinations. It degrades the effectiveness of high explosive quick (HEQ) and variable time (VT) fuzes against anything but unprotected troops. Their detonation in the jungle canopy will cause splintering of branches which will enhance fragmentation effects. Proximity fuses will normally detonate over the canopy, with no effect. High explosive delay (HED) will normally be the preferred shell-fuse combination for troops in prepared positions. It can penetrate the jungle canopy and overhead cover. When it explodes, it will also cause splintering of trees for enhanced fragmentation. Dual Purpose-Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICMs), Improved Conventional Munitions (ICMs), and the Family of Artillery Scatterable Mines (FASCAM) have limited uses in the jungle. The jungle canopy canopy tends either to detonate them early or cause unpredictable dispersion patterns. Illumination rounds produce bizzare effects in the jungle. As the round descends (if it penetrates the canopy), it causes shadows to shift so rapidly as to create the illusion of movement without illuminating any one spot long enough to be useful. Smoke tends to be unpredictable as well, due to cross currents beneath the canopy.

LESSON(S):

• For unprotected troops, use HEQ or VT.
• Use HED for troops in prepared positions.

TOPIC: Synchronization with Maneuver Forces.

DISCUSSION: In the jungle, communications are often difficult to maintain. Due to the inherent difficulty of jungle navigation, units may become misoriented as to their location or the location of the nearest friendly unit. As a result, fire support and maneuver forces become unsynchronized. The S3, FSO, and S2 must work closely together with the commanders of subordinate units to keep all forces synchronized.

LESSON(S):

• Test your fire support net constantly.
• The S3, S2, and FSO must maintain continuous communications.
• Develop a communications plan that includes CP locations/terrain elevation and the use of ground-based and airborne retransmission.

TOPIC: Close Air Support (CAS).

DISCUSSION: The nature of the jungle canopy makes target acquisition and identification by CAS aircraft difficult. Most USAF aircraft travel at such speeds as to give them only fleeting glimpses of the target. As a result, precision strikes in the jungle are difficult without guidance from a Forward Air Controller. Certain prominent terrain features, such as hills, open areas, tree lines, and stream beds, are somewhat easier for CAS aircraft to acquire and identify. If you are using preplanned CAS, it is often best to target such features. The use of smoke to identify friendly positions is a useful technique, if the canopy is not too thick. M203 smoke rounds can be used to mark enemy positions. However, you may have to fire several to produce a signature that the CAS aircraft can acquire. If available, a beacon is an excellent way of providing a reference point for fast-moving CAS aircraft. Unfortunately, the dense jungle foliage greatly restricts the use of laser designators. When CAS is being used, suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) must be afforded high priority. Most CAS pilots don't believe in the "big sky - little bullet" theory. Be prepared for a short lull in fire support where the artillery stops firing and the CAS aircraft helicopters begin their attack runs. Ideally, it should be no more than a few seconds. However, few things are ideal in war. During the Vietnam War, some Viet Cong and NVA units would use the lull and attempt to get within danger close distances to U. S. units. They would risk small arms fire, rather than be exposed to a CAS strike.

LESSON(S):

• Request a Forward Air Controller to control CAS employment.
• Consider using prominent terrain features as preplanned CAS targets.
• Use M203 smoke rounds to mark enemy positions.
• Use a beacon to provide a reference point.
• Focus on SEAD as a priority during CAS employment.
• Be prepared for an enemy assault during the lull in fire support just prior to CAS employment.

TOPIC: Attack Helicopters.

DISCUSSION: Attack helicopters are a most useful fire support asset in the jungle. Their mobility, loiter time, and armament make them a formidable opponent to any enemy. Helicopters can keep station at a hide site near a target for much longer than most USAF aircraft can loiter in an area. Since they move at slower speeds, visual acquisition and identification of targets is far easier. Although they are slower than USAF aircraft, they can achieve a much higher sortie rate through the use of a FAARP. Vulnerability of the helicopter to ground fire is their chief employment limitation. This can be reduced by "Pop up-and-Fire" tactics. If attack helicopters are being used, SEAD must be afforded high priority. Most helicopters have a very limited number of active countermeasures available to them. Also, like USAF CAS pilots, most attack helicopter pilots don't believe in the "big sky - little bullet" theory. Be prepared for a short lull in fire support where the artillery stops firing and the attack helicopters begin their attack runs.

LESSON(S):

• A FAARP is an HPT; protect it.
• Switch to SEAD as a top priority when attack helicopters are supporting your unit.
• Be prepared for an enemy assault during the lull in fire support just prior to CAS employment.

TOPIC: The Q36 Counter Mortar Radar.

DISCUSSION: The Q36 is an excellent system. However, it does have some limitations on its use in the jungle. The rugged jungle terrain limits the effectiveness of the Q36 considerably, often masking the radar. A limitation in its software does not allow it to identify rounds that are travelling away from the radar. Normally, that makes sense. On linear battlefields, the Q36 is employed from behind the front lines. Incoming fire is hostile, while outgoing fire is friendly. The jungle is often nonlinear. The enemy can infiltrate and fire on friendly troops from any direction. In addition, the mean time between equipment failures shortens considerably in the jungle environment due to constant heat and high humidity. Finally, because of a lack of roads and cleared spaces, there are few places where the Q36 can be set up and function effectively. As a result, it narrows the number of places that the enemy has to look for the radar. The radar site cannot be "administrative." It must be organized for defense.

LESSONS(S):

• Remember that the jungle is often a nonlinear battlefield.
• Bring your PLL and keep it with the radar.
• Remember that the Q36 is an HPT for the enemy.
• The Q36 also has difficulty detecting single volleys with good confirmation. It was designed to detect batteries firing multiple rounds. Expect many false alarms when it detects small arms, birds, helicopters, etc. In the first 18 hours of Q36 operations in Somalia, there were more than 100 false alarms.

TOPIC: Environmental Effects on Mortar Ammunition.

DISCUSSION: Mortar ammunition requires careful handling and storage in the jungle. Prolonged exposure to heat and humidity occasionally saturates the desiccant. This allows the increments to get wet, degrading the accuracy of the ammunition.

LESSON(S):

• When stacking mortar ammunition, make sure you place some sort of dunnage under it.
• Inspect all ammunition for signs of water damage before firing.
• Only unpack the ammunition that you need.

Section I, Part II

Section I, Part IV